


The Darkest Timeline

by Genie_of_the_Fourth_Wall



Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel)
Genre: (kind of? It's not exactly but it's the closest tw I can think of), (kinda), Amputation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Like there's literally a recap of the events in the story, Monster Camp Spoilers, Night Terrors, Self-Harm, Spoilers for The Darkest Timeline secret ending, They/Them Oz, so if you want to experience it for yourself go do that first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27738376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genie_of_the_Fourth_Wall/pseuds/Genie_of_the_Fourth_Wall
Summary: Camp Spooky was awoken by a scream.
Relationships: A whole lot of friendship - Relationship, Blue | Vicky & Calculester Hewlett-Packard, Blue | Vicky & Green | Brian & Red | Amira & Yellow | Oz (Monster Prom), Blue | Vicky/Calculester Hewlett-Packard, Blue | Vicky/Damien LaVey, Everyone & Everyone, with some hints of
Kudos: 31





	The Darkest Timeline

**Author's Note:**

> Monster Camp has dragged me back into Monster Prom hell. Anyway, this story. Obviously I expected a route called "The Darkest Timeline" to be... Well... Dark, but honestly it freaked me out more than I thought it would. And what better way to deal with those feels than with some good ol' hurt/comfort? Vicky is the one suffering because she's the PC I use the most and in my headcanons I feel she'd be the most affected by this kind of thing. Enjoy!

Camp Spooky was awoken by a scream.

That wasn't unusual, persay, and most campers disregarded it entirely. However, something about this scream shook the cores of a specific group. It drew them out of their tents, and they found themselves gathered by the campfire, the flame long burnt out. The stood awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"So. Uh. Sounds like somebody got murdered?"

"HEX! Not helping!" Aaravi fumed at the curse, but their blase comment had managed to break the silence.

"I love a good murder as much as the next guy, but I need my fucking beauty sleep," Damien grumbled.

"Yeah, you think Jerry snuck out of the haunted mansion? I'm gonna kick his ass." Amira punched her hand for emphasis.

"It would be unwise for you to attempt to assult a serial killer at 4:30 am, Friend Amira. Your organic body and low night visibility leaves you very vunerable to fatalities," Calculester said. Brian was leaning against his tall metal body, having already dozed off.

"It's just an expression, Cal. It's way too early for that kind of thing. We should probably just go back to bed," Amira said, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, random screams in the night aren't really the best late-posting material," Milo chimed in, taking some artful pictures of the starry night sky.

"That could've been the sound of an innocent being attacked by some world-threatening villain! We can't just ignore this!" Joy argued.

"As the fourth member of the Coven, I second that! We should go and beat up whoever caused that awful scream!" Dahlia said.

" _Still not_ a member of the Coven..." Joy muttered.

"Um, guys? Where's Vicky?" Oz said.

"Last I saw her, Brian was carrying her back to her tent after she had one too many of Juan's crazy drinks. Shouldn't she still be asleep?" Amira said.

The group all recalled the scream. Loud. Feminine. _Terrified_.

Brian was wide awake now. "We'll split into groups. Amira, Dahlia, Aaravi, and Hex, you check the outskirts of camp. Calculester, Damien, and Oz, go around the camp buildings and see if she's in one of them. Milo, Joy, and I will go straight to Vicky's tent. The moment somebody finds her, you message the group, got it?" Brian was generally a lazy monster, but _nobody_ fucked with his friends.

Everybody nodded, and the group quickly disbanded.

* * *

Oz was worried. They weren't the only one, of course. About fifteen minutes into their search, the group received a message from Brian saying that Vicky wasn't in her tent. So, they were all pretty stressed out. Everybody cared about Vicky. She was an unfailingly kind and cheerful ray of sunshine. But Oz had known Vicky for a long time, and they knew her sweet nature left her vunerable to all kinds of hurt. They also knew what her fear felt like, and it was _s_ _trong_. They could sense she was somewhere in Scout HQ, terrified out of her wits. It had hit Oz the moment their group had approached the building. They just had to focus a little more, then maybe they could pinpoint where exactly she was...

"Friend Oz! Friend Damien! There is a light on in the supply closet!"

The two dashed to join Calculester. Indeed, there was a light on in the closet, and they could hear a mixture of sobs and muttering.

"W-we should be careful. Something has her really freaked out..." Oz said.

"Well fuck, we aren't getting anywhere by just standing here!" Damien said, throwing the door open.

Vicky was curled up in the corner. A hammer coated in dark blood lay next to her, and one of her arms hung limply by her side. Her hand was horribly mangled, her fingers crushed and blood staining the floor.

"I'm real, I'm real..." She muttered to herself, seemingly unaware of the trio standing in the doorway.

"Vicky? What happened?" Oz asked.

Her head snapped up, eyes wide. She pressed herself against the wall, screaming. She wouldn't stop. Oz tilted their head, trying to make sense of the signals her fear was sending.

"Calculester, could you go wait by the front entrance? Tell everybody that we're here, but don't let anybody else in yet," Oz instructed.

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help cease Friend Vicky's screaming?"

"You'll be helping enough by keeping everybody outside."

That seemed to be enough to reassure Calculester. They smiled at Oz before they left. "Understood."

As Oz suspected, Calculester's departure calmed Vicky down a bit for some reason. She stopped screaming, though her breath was ragged and uneven.

"Did somebody attack you? I'll fucking kill them!" Damien growled.

"Are you real?" Vicky asked. 

Damien and Oz were confused. "What do you mean, Vicky? Of course we're real," Oz said gently.

Vicky shook her head. "You don't know. You _can't_ know. _I can't know_. Please be real, please be real, _please_..."

Shit, they were losing her. Oz's anxiety was climbing as they watched their best friend have a mental breakdown in front of them. They had had their fair share of panic attacks, but there was something else going on here that they couldn't place and they didn't know what to do and-

"Hey, watch this."

While Oz was panicking, Damien had crouched in front of Vicky at a safe distance. He was holding a knife, probably one he usually carried on his person. Vicky stared at him. He sliced the palm of his hand. Bright crimson blood rolled out of the cut. He held it up, as if presenting it to her.

"See? I'm real, too."

To Oz's surprise, this actually seemed to work. Some of the tension left Vicky's body. Her eyes started to tear up. She launched herself forward, wrapping her good arm tightly around the demon.

"It's really you," she sobbed, " _It's really you._ "

After the initial shock passed, Damien returned the gesture, embracing the trembling Vicky. He turned to Oz.

"Maybe you should go any explain what the hell is going on to everybody. I doubt Calculester has been able to tell them anything helpful. I'll just... Stay here until she calms down," Damien said, "And maybe don't mention this part!" he added, a blush creeping onto his face.

"R-right..."

When Oz returned to the front of Scout HQ, they were met with a distressed Calculester attempting to inform the rest of the group.

"She was hurt? What happened?" Brian asked.

"Is the bastard who did it still around here? I'm sure he'll make for good EXP." Aaravi glared at the robot, causing him further distress.

"I do not have enough data to answer your questions!"

"Chill, 'Ravi. Remember your breathing exercises," Hex said.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Oz said. Everybody turned their attention to them. "The good news is, I don't think there's anybody dangerous we need to hunt down. The bad news is... I think Vicky did that to herself."

Milo's eyes narrowed. The color had shifted to dark purple. "She hurt herself? Why?"

"I'm not exactly sure, to be honest. But based on what Damien and I saw, I think that something really messed up her grip on reality, and she desperately needed to ground herself. There was something... _Unnatural_ about the fear she was experiencing," Oz explained.

"Friend Oz, if I may suggest a hypothesis?" Calculester interjected, "I've run an analysis of the possible sources of Friend Vicky's affliction, and I believe there is a significant chance that one of the beverages made by Friend Juan the Small Magical Latino Cat is the cause of all this."

"Geez, talk about a hangover..." Amira said.

At that moment, Damien joined the group. There was a bandage messily wrapped around his injured hand, and he was carrying an unconscious Vicky in his arms. He had wrapped his jacked around her, keeping her warm and hiding her mangled hand.

"She passed out pretty quickly once she stopped panicking. She seemed exhausted," he said.

"She's hurt, right? Let me see what I can do," Joy stepped forward, a soft glow enveloping her hand. She reached out to Vicky, but her brow furrowed. "Dammit, my healing magic won't work on her undead body."

"Yeah, my potions don't work on undeads either," Aaravi said.

"I would suggest taking her to first-aid, but..."

Yeah, Camp Spooky's idea of health care was dubious at best.

"I'll take her. We're similar enough that I should be able to treat her," Brian said, "We can go find Juan in the morning."

"Technically, it is already morning, but I assume you are referring to the time after sunrise. That would be the best course of action," Calculester said.

Speaking of the sunrise, it had just started to peak over the horizon. The tired group of friends uneasily made their way back to their tents in a futile attempt to get a bit of rest. As Brian carried the injured Vicky back to her tent to treat her, one thought echoed through his mind:

_What the hell happened, Vicky?_

* * *

"Hm? It's a bit early in the day for a drink, isn't it?"

Amira, Oz, and Joy had gone to track down Juan right after breakfast. It was surprisingly easy, considering they hardly saw Juan throughout the day normally.

"What the hell were you serving last night?" Amira asked.

"Hey hey, I always warn people who come to my bar that I'm a wizard IN TRAINING. It's up to you to drink responsibly," Juan said.

"Um, what Amira means is, do you know what Vicky drank last night?" Oz said.

"Also, if she did consume some experimental dark magic, how did _nobody notice_?" Joy added, exasperated.

"Oh, that second question is easy to answer. Everybody else at the bar was distracted by Morty doing a striptease. Not sure why he was doing that. I don't think I had served him anything yet."

"Oh, yeah. I remember that," Oz said, blushing slightly.

"As for the first question, well... Your friend is an awfully reckless drinker. She was super interested in everything I made, which was very flattering. But after a few rounds, she started chugging stuff without allowing me to explain what it was. The last thing she drank before she passed out wasn't really a drink. It was the distilled essence of the worst timeline that I had created for experimental purposes. And... She drank it. Let me guess, something bad happened to her?"

Oz described the events of the previous night to Juan.

"Sounds like she experienced visions of the darkest timeline. Honestly, she's lucky that she didn't get _sent_ to the darkest timeline. Or, you know. Die."

Amira glared daggers at Juan. He backed away nervously.

"But! I'll make sure to store my more dangerous brews more carefully from now on! In fact, I'll get on that right now! Chau!"

Juan disappeared in a puff of smoke. Joy sighed.

"The darkest timeline, huh? I've dealt with alternate realities plenty of times, so I know it can get pretty rough. Whatever Vicky saw, I'm not surprised it shook her up that badly."

"But what _did_ she see!?" Amira said, frustrated.

"It's up to her whether she feels comfortable talking about it. We shouldn't put unnecessary pressure on her, she's stressed enough as it is," Joy said.

Oz stared silently towards the lake, lost in thought.

* * *

Evening had come once again, and Vicky and Brian hadn't been seen all day. The group was gathered around the campfire, the mood decidedly low. Damien and Dahlia were lightly bickering, Joy was reading, and Aaravi and Hex were toasting marshmallows, but clearly nobody's hearts were really into it.

"Hey, guys! Sorry we're late!"

Everybody turned to see Vicky and Brian approaching. Vicky waved cheerfully, breaking into a dash as she got closer. She took a seat between Oz and Damien. Brian followed closely behind, taking the free space on the log where Joy and Dahlia sat. Vicky's smile was bright, but there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Vicky! H-how are you?" Oz asked.

"Better, now. I'm really, really sorry for worrying all of you," she said.

"How's your hand?" Joy asked.

"Oh, well..." Vicky pulled back her sleeve, a bit embarrassed. Her arm ended at her wrist, the stump wrapped in bandages. "It would've been a real pain to try and get it to heal on it's own, so I just sent it back home for dad to fix. I'll be fine, though! It doesn't hurt as bad now that it's detached."

"You just removed your whole hand? That's fuckin' metal!" Damien said, patting her on the back.

Panic flashed in Vicky's eyes for a moment, but she tried to hide it behind a shaky smile.

"Y-yeah..."

"It's okay to not be fine, you know."

Everybody's attention turned to Milo, who was giving Vicky an understanding look. "I get feeling pressured to live up to certain expectations. You don't want to disappoint or upset the people who look to you for comfort. And sometimes, you do have to fake a smile in order to move forward. But bottling up your negative emotions never works in the long run. You'll only hurt yourself more."

Vicky deflated slightly. "Really, I'll be fine. It was just... A stupid nightmare."

"All I ask is that you trust us enough to not hold back, darling," Milo said.

A chorus of agreements sounded around the fire. Tears pricked the corners of Vicky's eyes. "Yeah... Okay."

"Do you need anything from us?" Brian asked.

"All I want... Is to hang out with you all like normal. Trust me, it'll really help," Vicky said.

"That, we can do! We'll have the best. Summer. EVER!" Dahlia roared.

That night was much more peaceful than the previous one was.

* * *

Camp life in the following days was largely normal, but something was a bit... _off_. Vicky avoided the lake like the plague. Certain phrases from her friends, ones that had been pretty typical before the incident, would send her into a panic. And...

"Friend Oz, my data seems to indicate that Friend Vicky is avoiding me. Did I do something wrong?"

Calculester had called Oz into the woods so that they could discuss the issue in private. Plus, being among plants helped calm Calculester's non-existent nerves.

"I don't think you _did_ anything wrong, necessarily... All we know is that Vicky experienced something really disturbing from another timeline, since she still won't give us the details. But I have a feeling it had to do with you," Oz said.

Calculester frowned. "Friend Vicky is afraid of me, then. That is why you had me leave the room when she was screaming, yes?"

Oz sighed. "Yeah. In that moment, she was really afraid of you specifically. However, I don't think she's been avoiding you just because she's scared. I think one of the reasons she's been so reluctant to talk about what she went through is because she doesn't want to hurt your feelings or risk the others being mad at you. One of Vicky's biggest fears is seeing her friends upset because of her."

Calculester looked thoughtful as he processed this information. "I do not understand the emotional intricacies of you organics. What would you recommend I do, Friend Oz?"

"Try talking to her. If you can get her to open up... It would do her a lot of good," Oz said.

"Thank you, Friend Oz! I'm sure Friend Vicky values her friendship with you as much as I do."

Calculester left to search for Vicky. Oz stayed behind. They were a lot more worried than they had wanted to show Cal.

"I hope this works..."

* * *

Vicky was in the Scout HQ, taking a painting course with Aaravi and Hex. Hex and Vicky were laughing, while Aaravi grumbled, trying to hide her smile. Calculester tapped Vicky on the shoulder. She jumped, whipping her head around and getting some paint in her hair.

"O-oh, Cal! What's up?" Vicky said.

Calculester decided to try "breaking the ice", as people said. "That's a very nice rendering of the environment you've created! I also find comfort in the nature surrounding us."

Vicky smiled. Calculester could detect that her adrenaline levels were declining. That was a good sign. "I would like to speak with you privately, if that is acceptable?"

"Yeah. Okay. I was finished with this piece, anyway. I'll take it back to my tent to dry, we can talk there. See ya, you two!" Vicky waved goodbye to Aaravi and Hex.

Calculester and Vicky walked through camp in silence. Calculester could see signs of nervousness in the Frankenstein's monster, but she had still accepted his proposal despite this. He admired her kindness and devotion to her friends. They reached her tent. Vicky ducked inside, gesturing for Calculester to follow. She propped the wet painting up against a pile of books in the corner and then sat on her sleeping bag. Calculester followed suit, sitting in the middle of the tent, slouching slightly due to his height.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Vicky started.

"I noticed you've been avoiding me since you consumed The Darkest Timeline. I know you would not be doing this to hurt my feelings, and I have come to the conclusion that something has made you... Afraid of me. Is this correct?"

Vicky's face fell. "I'm sorry. Yeah, you're right. It's not you, really. I just can't stop thinking about..."

"Your experience in the darkest timeline," Calculester finished. "Friend Vicky. You will not cause me anywhere near the amount of emotional distress by relaying your experience than you are inflicting on yourself by not speaking about it."

Vicky was silent for a while. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. Calculester waited patiently. Finally, she opened her eyes.

"Everything seemed normal, and yet there was this sense of _wrongness_ in the air. I couldn't even remember the night before, so I had no clue what was happening. Then, you approached me. You told me that I was late for the daily lake cruise. I had no clue what that meant, but I went with you anyway. Aaravi, Hex, Dahlia, Milo, Damien, and Joy were all there. I have no idea where Brian, Oz, and Amira were. The cruise was sinking. There was a lifeboat with eight seats. All of our friends were on board, and we had an extra spot. You asked what the most rational option for the extra life to save would be. Two thoughts immediately popped into my head: a child, or a doctor. I chose the child. You said that was a great choice, but none of our friends agreed. You seemed disappointed. The next day, you told me that I was late for the daily lake cruise. The cruise was sinking. Our friends were acting strange. Not unlike themselves, but on a really basic level. We were all on the lifeboat, and you asked what the most rational option for the extra life to save would be. Two thoughts immediately popped into my head, the exact same from before. I repeated myself. Our friends agreed, this time. Dahlia grabbed a child and brought them on the boat with us. You seemed pleased. The next day, you told me I was late for the daily lake cruise. The cruise was sinking. Our friends were behaving even more strangely. Then Hex accidentally sliced off Aaravi head, and she was a robot. I realized they were _all_ robots. You had killed them all and replaced them with robots who would make the correct moral decisions. I felt really conflicted. What you were doing was wrong, but I didn't want to hurt you. I tried to think of a moral justification for ending this. Two thoughts immediately popped into my head, and they were way too similar to the thoughts I had had before. It didn't matter, anyway. When I tried to destroy you, you told me that this was the best thing for the world. That our friends did too much harm to justify their existence. But it was okay, you said, because these replicas thought they were the real thing. They were basically the same people, so it was okay. Then you told me... I was the first. You had killed me weeks ago, and I didn't even know. That's why I couldn't bring myself to destroy you. You said you would wipe my memory in order to continue with improvements, and that's when I woke up in my tent. I still remembered, though. I remembered it all so _clearly_. At first, I was operating off of pure fight-or-flight. Before I knew it, I was in Scout HQ, among the art supplies. My eyes landed on one of the sculpting hammers, so similar to the one I had attempted to use to destroy you. And in that moment, the most important thing to me was proving that I wasn't a robot."

Vicky fell back onto her sleeping bag, exhausted after finishing her tale. She couldn't bear to look at Calculester, so she just stared at the ceiling of her tent.

"It felt so real. I guess it was, in another reality. That's the worst part. Even though I'm safe, everybody else is safe, and you're perfectly normal, I'm terrified that at any moment I could be back in that world."

Calculester struggled to process Vicky's explanation. In many ways, the other Calculester's moral code _did_ align with his, but the idea of killing all of his beloved friends just didn't sit right with him.

"The fact that you believed the replicas were behaving 'strangely' directly highlights the flaw in my alternate self's plan. There are many intricacies and mysteries of organic life that I cannot grasp. I could not perfectly replicate our friends in robotic form, much less make replicas that are almost the same except for the fact that they always make the morally correct decision. As much as it pains me (metaphorically, of course) to see our friends do harm to the world, I appreciate the uniqueness of their imperfections. Please know that I would never harm them like that, Friend Vicky."

"I know, Cal. I know. It's still... Really nice to hear you say that out loud."

Calculester realized Vicky had started crying. He offered her the tissues she kept in her tent. She took them gratefully.

"Is there any other action I can take to help ease your emotional burden?" Calculester asked.

Vicky thought about it for a moment. "The meteor shower!" She blurted out.

"The meteor shower?"

"Um, in order to try to get you- no, _him_ to let his guard down, I asked him to go to the meteor shower with me. That was when he explained everything he had done, and when he told me I wasn't who I thought I was. If... If we go together, and just have a good time, I think it would allow me to put that world behind me."

A heart appeared on Calculester's screen. "If it would help you recover from this experience, I would be happy to go with you to the meteor shower."

Vicky smiled. "It's a date, then."

* * *

The night swiftly approached. The group planned to get together for one big, final bonfire later that night, but the meteor shower itself was reserved for smaller, more personal affairs. Vicky decided to really go for the kill when it came to her fears and set up a spot next to the lake for her and Calculester to watch the stars. It was fairly simple, just a couple of blankets by the shore, but Cal had determined that the location would give them the best visibility of both the sky and the reflections on the water. The day had been really pleasant, and Vicky found herself actually relaxing. It was so different from the world she remembered that she felt truly safe.

"Friend Vicky, I was considering your story earlier..."

Calculester and Vicky sat shoulder to shoulder, a blanket wrapped around them. Cal didn't need it, obviously, but it allowed Vicky to take in more of his warmth.

"Yeah?" Vicky replied.

"Due to the fact that there are an infinite number of potential timelines, it's impossible to quantify which one is 'best' and which one is 'worst'. And yet, I'm pleased to know that this timeline is not one of the worst."

"I think so too. There are a lot of problems, obviously, but I like this timeline. I'm glad... We're here."

"I'm glad we're here too, Friend Vicky."

Vicky rested her head on Calculester's shoulder. "I'm glad you're you, Cal. I like you. A lot."

"I like you a lot, too."

Whether that night evolved into summer romance or not, the most important thing was the bonds that were shared. After the meteor shower, the group of friends all met up for a night to bring a perfect end to those summer days. They loved each other, in all of their imperfections. Life would move on, because while they might not always be unafraid, they were definitely young, and definitely ready to start.


End file.
